Archives for January 2016

By Will Hall, Message Editor
While announcing new gun restrictions Jan. 5, President Obama, surrounded by parents of the 20 children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut during 2012, became deeply emotional.
“First graders,” he said. “Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad.”
“Our unalienable right to life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — those rights were stripped from college students in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara, and from high schoolers at Columbine, and from first-graders in Newtown,” he said. “First-graders.”
“But I also believe we can find ways to reduce gun violence consistent with the Second Amendment,” he offered. “I mean, think about it – we all believe in the First Amendment, the guarantee of free speech. But we accept that you cannot yell “fire” in a theater.
Then he said something remarkable.
“We understand there are some constraints on our freedom in order to protect innocent people.”
The president is justified in regretting the loss of innocent lives in shootings across the United States. In 2014, there were 8,124 murders using firearms, according to the FBI; and, another 21,175 individuals took their own lives with a gun, the CDC reports – nearly … [Read more...]

Dear Church Member,
You are…
God’s plan to display his glory to the nations.
God’s plan to show your kids how to follow Christ.
God’s plan to reach your neighbors & show them what it means to know Christ.
God’s plan to expand his kingdom in your town, city, state.
God’s plan to show His wisdom to the world through pooling your gifts with other believers in a local church.
Loved. Chosen. Favored. Saved. Filled. Forgiven. And so much more.
You have…
God’s power within to help you overcome the daily & the deadly.
God’s word to guide you in the way to believe & behave.
God’s gifts to build others up & help grow his kingdom.
God’s resources to be managed in a way that honors him & shows others that He is better than this world.
God’s promise that He will be with you & he will use you & he will empower you.
God’s people around you to encourage & build you up.
Power. Wisdom. Grace. Eternal Life. Peace. And so much more.
YOU ARE, much more than just a volunteer. YOU ARE a leader in God’s kingdom & YOU HAVE everything you need to make a difference. No excuses. No delay. No looking at others. Be who YOU ARE meant to be. Use what YOU HAVE.
What’s stopping you? “I’m … [Read more...]

By Michael Foust, Christian Examiner
DES MOINES, Iowa (Christian Examiner) – Evangelist Franklin Graham launched his 50-state "Decision America" tour Jan. 5, telling more than 2,500 people in Iowa's capital that America will fall if God's people don't take a stand for righteousness.
The third stop of Graham's "Decision America" tour will be in Baton Rouge on Jan. 13.
"Our country is in trouble, but we've got a great God," Graham told the crowd gathered in front of the capitol building on a cold winter day.
Using the story of Nehemiah as a reference to America, Graham added, "The moral and political walls of our nation are crumbling. ... [God] can rebuild those walls. He can rehang those gates. But it's going to take the people of God praying and using your God-given right to vote. ... If we don't, this country's not going to stand much longer."
Graham has pledged to visit every state in the coming months leading up to the election, emphasizing that the rallies are spiritual, not political, in nature. The DecisionAmericaTour.com website says Graham is challenging Christians "to live out their faith at home, in public and at the ballot box," and he did just that throughout the first rally. He also, as promised, shared … [Read more...]

By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Christian Examiner) – Roy Moore, chief justice of Alabama's Supreme Court, has issued an order to his state's probate judges instructing them to halt the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples until conflicts over "existing orders" from the Alabama Supreme Court can be resolved and the ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges clarified.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state laws and constitutional amendments in Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee and Ohio which declared marriage to be only a union between one man and one woman were unconstitutional – an action most interpreted as creating the right to same-sex marriage nationwide.
Moore, however, had noted in his order that the Alabama Supreme Court had upheld the state's ban on same-sex marriage in March 2015, and because Obergefell v. Hodges only addressed the right to same-sex marriage in four states, other states' same-sex marriage laws – including his state's laws – remain unaffected and intact.
"Confusion and uncertainty exist among the probate judges of this State as to the effect of Obergefell on the 'existing orders,'" Moore wrote in his four-page order.
"Many probate judges are issuing marriage … [Read more...]

By Megan Strain, Published on marriageroots.com
A new year brings a sigh of relief for some and a bit of wistfulness for others. Regardless of how you left 2015, a look ahead at 2016 can bring with it a lot of ideas and plans, especially spiritual ones. For many Christians, the do-over of a new year also becomes a bit of a do-over for diving deeper into Scripture, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines like memorizing verses.
If Scripture memory is something you are hoping to work on in 2016, check out how a group of families have been working through it together. We talked to Megan Strain about how she and 2 other friends decided to begin a Scripture Memory Club for their families and how they’ve seen the Lord use it to grow them individually, as couples, as families, and as friends.
Tell us about your family Scripture Memory Club. Why did you start it, and how does it work?
Megan: This past summer our family spent a week at Pine Cove Family Camp in Tyler, Texas (an experience I highly recommend!), and it was here this idea was born. During the weekly Talent Show, a young boy from another family recited most, if not all of Romans 12. It was very impressive and very convicting. I realized I was not doing a great job … [Read more...]

Louisiana Baptists can help sway state legislators’ choice of a new leader.
On Monday, January 11, the Louisiana House of Representatives will select a new Speaker and the outcome will have a dramatic impact on the influence of Christian vision and values in the public policy adopted by the state legislature.
Among other duties, the Speaker assigns members to committees, whether proposed legislation will be handled by a hostile or favorable committee, and determines which bills will even be considered -- essentially the Speaker sets the legislative process and so largely decides which proposed policies succeed or fail.
According to pro-family and pro-life advocacy groups, the two leading candidates have dramatically different records on issues relating to the traditional family and the rights of the unborn. Consequently, the new Speaker largely will influence the outcomes of moral and social concerns pursued by Louisiana Baptists.
The Louisiana Family Forum reports Rep. Cameron Henry has a record of supporting traditional family values 93 percent of the time and the Louisiana Right to Life Federation gives him a score of 100 percent on pro-life issues.
Meanwhile, Rep. Walt Leger III earned a score of 44 percent from … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message
VIDALIA – The cities of Vidalia and Natchez know flooding is coming but they are asking God to spare them any widespread damage.
The two communities will gather Jan. 10 at 3 p.m. for community prayer at the Vidalia Conference and Convention Center. Everyone is invited, including citizens, businesses and churches from Concordia, Catahoula and Tensas parishes as well as Natchez, Adams County and surrounding areas.
“Please join us as the Miss-Lou community comes together in unity to seek God’s protection from this flooding. We are one in this time of need,” said Todd Trahan, organizer of the event.
Vidalia Mayor Hiram Copeland says Concordia Parish is asking the Louisiana National Guard to help Louisiana's 5th Levee District prepare for rising water on the Mississippi River.
He says emergency director Payne Scott asked for two, four-person units with equipment, and they should begin arriving Wednesday.
Copeland and other officials are asking people to stay off levees in Mississippi and Louisiana. Copeland quotes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as saying the levees are in excellent shape, but so saturated with rain that too many vehicles could damage them.
According to the Concordia … [Read more...]

By Mike Evans, Pastor Elwood Baptist Church, Forest Hill
BOSSIER CITY – Across our Convention there are spiritual warning signs found in less giving by some, fewer baptisms by many and a very real feel some churches are dying.
And this should be concerning to every Louisiana Baptist.
I firmly believe in the Cooperative Program and find it astounding so many independent and autonomous SBC/LBC congregations can come together to do so many vitally important things to fulfill our Lord's Great Commission while others do not find it imperative.
Perhaps some of us have forgotten the CP is truly a bona fide miracle. It could be we have also forgotten or de-emphasized some of the things we used to do when the Cooperative Program first began almost a century ago.
Today, we have Christian media and more technology to use than we can keep up with.
So what is different today and what is lacking?
For one thing, I don't see the tears that used to be a part of most every service in our churches only a few decades ago. People used to plead for the Lord to not only save their families from their enemies but also hell.
Could it be the prosperity we now enjoy has made us spend more time feathering our nest, as if we will live … [Read more...]

By Staff, Louisiana Right to Life
NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans and Louisiana Right to Life have partnered together to have 16 streetlight banner signs installed along historic St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans between St. Joseph Street and State Street. The signs went up Dec. 10.
The two-sided pink banners, intended to raise awareness regarding the humanity of the unborn, display a 19-week-old baby in utero and state: "Give Her Life a Chance! First Heartbeat 22 Days after Conception!"
Benjamin Clapper, Executive Director of Louisiana Right to Life, said, "Under Louisiana state law babies may be aborted up to 20 weeks fetal age for any reason. We hope the banners help educate the public by highlighting the humanity of the unborn child so often overlooked in our society."
Shanon Snyder, Projects Director for New Orleans Right to Life, worked with the city of New Orleans and its contractors to get the banners installed. The project came about after Robert Winn, president of New Orleans Right to Life, heard about similar signs put up by Students for Life at the University of Southern California. Winn saw this as an effective way to bring the pro-life debate to the minds of New Orleans residents, Snyder said.
"Abortion … [Read more...]

By Alliance Defending Freedom staff
WASHINGTON – Several religious non-profit organizations filed an opening brief Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court in consolidated lawsuits against the Obama administration’s abortion-pill mandate and its religious non-profit options, all of which force the groups to violate their faith. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent a Christian college and four Christian universities that asked the high court to review appeals court decisions that upheld the mandate in Geneva College v. Burwell and Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell, two of seven cases that the Supreme Court agreed in November of last year to take up.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception through their health plans under threat of heavy penalties. Geneva College in Pennsylvania and the four universities in Oklahoma – Southern Nazarene University, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Mid-America Christian University – specifically object to providing abortifacients.
“The government has no legitimate basis for forcing faith-based … [Read more...]

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Editorial

By Steve Horn
Corinth was by all historical accounts a very wicked place. When Paul established a church there, he was establishing a church in the midst of one of the most difficult cities of his day.
When we move to the letters called 1 and 2 Corinthians, we realize that the struggle in Corinth continued. … Continue Reading.

By Steve Horn
Corinth was by all historical accounts a very wicked place. When Paul established a church there, he was establishing a church in the midst of one of the most difficult cities of his day.
When we move to the letters called 1 and 2 Corinthians, we realize that the struggle in Corinth continued. … Continue Reading.